Fortnite

XBox Makes Online Multiplayer for Free-to-Play Games... Free

Recently Microsoft announced a price increase on XBox Gold, the service that allows folks to play games online. Due to the overwhelmingly negative response Microsoft kept the pricing as it was and did one more in that they said they would allow free online multiplayer for all free to play games. Put another way, you can play games like Warframe and Fortnite for free without having to pay for XBox Games Pass or XBox Gold. As someone that recently bought an XBox Series X that doesn't have Games Pass or Gold this is a very welcome change. Feels like I'm getting an upgrade for just having an XBox. I'm well aware the PC versions of these games allow free online multiplayer... Read All

Get 15 Games Free In An Epic PC Holiday Event!

The Epic Games Store on PC is giving away 15 free PC games this year to help ring in the new year. So far I've netted well over 50 PC games free from Epic including Grand Theft Auto V, FTL and the entire Batman Arkham series. I'm not sure what other games Epic has hidden under the tree but we'll find out as they release one free game per day starting on December 17th!

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/news/the-holiday-sale-returns-on-december-17-plus-15-free-games

Fortnite Battle Royale Is The Biggest Game Right Now And You Need To Play It

Six years ago Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games announced a new game called Fortnite that was aimed exclusively at the PC market. It was a co-op team shooter game set in a cartoony apocalypse where you can build structures to protect yourself and your teammates from the oncoming Zombie hordes. The game has been in development for over six years and is still in early access and has blown up with the launch of the in game Battle Royale mode. One huge inspiration for Fortnite Battle Royale was the early 2017 Player Unknown Battlegrounds also known as PUBG. When PUBG hit the scene it solid very well catapulting it to the top of the Steam and Twitch charts and Epic Games saw... Read All Six years ago Cliff Bleszinski of Epic Games announced a new game called Fortnite that was aimed exclusively at the PC market. It was a co-op team shooter game set in a cartoony apocalypse where you can build structures to protect yourself and your teammates from the oncoming Zombie hordes. The game has been in development for over six years and is still in early access and has blown up with the launch of the in game Battle Royale mode. One huge inspiration for Fortnite Battle Royale was the early 2017 Player Unknown Battlegrounds also known as PUBG. When PUBG hit the scene it solid very well catapulting it to the top of the Steam and Twitch charts and Epic Games saw how well the Battle Royale formula did and they set out to rebuild it in Fortnite. One reason why Fortnite has gone on to overtake PUBG in terms of players is partly due to it's cartoony style, Epics amazing gameplay and Fortnite being entirely free to play. Fortnite's free to play model isn't pay to win as all in game currency goes to purchase in game cosmetics such as player skins, weapon skins, backpack skins and pickaxe skins. You can buy game currency outright to buy items in the store and/or you can buy the season pass which allows you to unlock certain skins by playing the game and leveling up your character. Some skins are available to unlock each season for free but if you want the really cool stuff that costs money.

What Is Battle Royale Mode?

The FPS Battle Royale mode is actually a pretty fun experience but not if you don't like dying... a lot. In Fortnite Battle Royale 100 players queue up and are literally dropped in on the game island via a flying Battle Bus. At the top of the match the Battle Bus flies overhead in a direction and you figure out where you will parachute from to land on the ground and start your search for weapons and items. In the Solo game mode the winner of the game is the last person alive and the goal is to either camp out and wait for someone to come by and kill them or take other players head on. As you exist in the map a cloud circles an area making the area you can exist in smaller confining the players to less and less space to push you closer to confronting each other. There is also a team mode where you and three other people can group up and see how far you can get together.

My Mini Review

So far I've only played a handful of matches and am still learning the games basic strategy. Since Fortnite is an Epic Games creation the gun play feels top notch and the third person over the shoulder camera really makes the whole experience feel fresh. The cartoony style graphics also make the game feel a bit more whimsical so when you die, it's not quite as soul crushing. That said, I've only manged to kill a handful of people so far as everyone... for the most part is way better than I am.

Since I have Twitch Prime(because I have an Amazon Prime membership) I got some cool Fortnite game skins that I can play with. It's nice looking a bit different than the main player skins but again, it's just cosmetic it doesn't make me better at the game. Fortnite is so huge it's basically now available on every platform including PC, Mac, PS4, XBox One and now iOS including iPhones and iPads. I have an iPhone 6S and the games graphics aren't as good as my PC but it's the same game and works really well considering it's a touch screen game. Fortnite is so popular right now Epic is telling kids to stop playing Fortnite during class, which I could see myself doing a lot of if I was in school right now.

If you want to play Fortnite on PC or Mac you will have to download the Epic Games client as it's not available on Steam. It makes sense as Fortnite is free to play and is funded by in game purchases and Epic saves money if it doesn't share 30% of those transactions with anyone. That said, the Epic Games client isn't hard to get or annoying in any way I noticed.

If you are looking for a cool game to try and have wanted to give the whole Battle Royale mode a shot I recommend installing Fortnite. It's hard sure, but it's fun and jumping back into a match is pretty quick as it's currently being played by basically everyone in gaming right now.

https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/buy-now/battle-royale

Travis Admin wrote on 04/01/2018 at 03:15am

A first person shooter on iOS? How does that work exactly?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/01/2018 at 03:38am

Virtual thumbstick on the left for moving, thumbstick on the right for aiming. There is a button to jump and you tap the screen to collect items. Works better than it sounds but it's not my preferred way of playing it. Epic has mentioned it will add support for iOS MFI controllers at some point which should basically make it akin to playing it on a console.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/01/2018 at 04:45am

As long as they let you join games with only people on mobile that do NOT have controllers that sounds like it could work well.

I popped in for a couple matches and suuuuuuucked. I'm pretty ok with knowing I'll never win one but it's fun.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/01/2018 at 05:30am

Yeah, it is fun. I killed someone in a match, that was great. Then I was in another match where I was in the last 10.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/01/2018 at 05:47am

That sounds basically identical to my night. :D

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/02/2018 at 05:03pm

I tried it last night. Got killed right away.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/02/2018 at 11:17pm

In a game where people run around killing each other, i'd expect that.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/04/2018 at 12:02am

I just came in 31st. I am soooo awesome. :)

Travis Admin wrote on 04/04/2018 at 12:39am

You're practically godlike!

...compared to me ;)

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/04/2018 at 01:55am

Ha! My number was inflated by the fact that I landed in an area that nobody was in. I ended up getting one kill before getting killed.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/04/2018 at 02:13am

19 and the storm killed me. I floated to the very outside of the map and tried to make my way in. It was a good way to learn a little bit about the game.

Travis Admin wrote on 04/04/2018 at 03:20am

That's kinda the problem I have. I wish there was a bot mode where you could set AI difficulty, just to get a handle on the mechanics without worrying about survival.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/04/2018 at 03:48am

Right. But I find that part of the fun. It's a game you can't get too attached to because it doesn't last very long. I find that kind of experience really... in a way... freeing because it's not about being very good. I really enjoy it for the loner aspect and trying to figure out the best way to land in an area no one is around, find some weapons and derp my way to a kill or survival.

Sometimes I get into a gun fight right away with someone but I try and hit the edges of the map and survive until pushed in but by the time it's just me and 20 other people they are SO much better than me. But it's still fun to play.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/04/2018 at 04:23am

Jon, it sounds like we have the same strategy. :)

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Fortnite Update - A Fun Team Based Building Shooter

It's been a long time since Fortnite was unveiled by Cliffy B at PAX. Since then Cliffy has left Epic and started his own game company, Epic released Unreal 4 engine for free and Unreal Tournament is getting a reboot. Fortnite has remained in pretty active development but I haven't heard very much about it from others or the press. As I was reading about Fortnite I watched the video above showing off game play, construction and basic game mechanics. In Fortnite (or one mode of it) your team builds up a base to survive the oncoming hordes of invaders. Some of your team members gather resources while others build the base to hold up to the invasion. After watching the... Read All

I am unsure what to make of Epics forthcoming game Fortnite

I am unsure what to make of Epics forthcoming game Fortnite because I haven't seen any game play and in depth description of it. That said, Epic's Cliff Bleszinksi said something at Comic Con today that made me think about gaming and how things move:

"We're here and we're announcing that this is a PC-designed game, it's shipping exclusively for the PC," he told a crowd of attendees."

"Next-gen's here. It's been here. It's a high-end PC," Bleszinski said. He added that the dudebro-free Fortnite didn't "make sense" for Unreal Engine 3, and cheered PCs as being part of Epic's "heritage.""

Epic has been a primarally console based developer for the last few years and in the... Read All